Secrets of Cannabis Revealed

We turn our attention to another “truth” that has been hidden and suppressed from the general public – the incredible health benefits of cannabis and hemp, not to mention the hundreds, if not thousands, of commercial, industrial, and residential uses of weed.

To get started on your learning journey, please review our “lesson plan” on the secrets of Cannabis.

Cannabis has been the most useful plant in history that has been worshiped by the ancients and reviled by Western science. From the highest praise for the sap of the hemp plant, called soma, to the derogatory term “weed”, cannabis is the most misunderstood and mysterious plant. Ancient Siberian shamans believed that cannabis came from heaven as a gift from the gods, while the Hindu culture of India believed that the god Shiva himself brought it to earth as a sacred drink that the gods use to maintain their enlightened consciousness and immortality.

On the other hand, in America, about one third of the people in jail are there because of a drug conviction involving marijuana. Many times, it is a tiny part of a “joint” in the ashtray that sends these recreational marijuana “criminals” to jail. At this point, seventeen American states have legalized some aspect of medical or recreational marijuana, yet many people in those very states are still in jail for possession of marijuana or even simply “marijuana paraphernalia.” This mysterious plant has a pervasive effect on society throughout the world and may hold the keys to solving many illnesses, commercial needs, and possible economic liberty.

There are those who get upset at even the mention of marijuana, pot, weed, hemp, medical marijuana or any reference whatsoever to the cannabis plant. Americans will argue with you that even hemp should not be legal, even though it is widely used and legal in almost every other country in the world. Many supposedly “well-informed” Americans will tell you that cannabis, in any form, is simply evil and harms anyone who uses it.

One might ask why Americans are so adamant about such misinformation. One explanation is that the “war on drugs”, which lumped marijuana in with narcotics, truly brain-washed Americans into a stupor of ignorance and disinformation that may not be able to be undone. Even in states where marijuana (which we prefer to call cannabis) is legal and there are medical advances in the treatment of almost every illness with CBDs, THCs, and the many other amazing substances in cannabis, brain-washed people will not hear a single word of the research. Modern science is rocketing forward in accepting the wonders of cannabis and its seemingly endless uses.

The endocannabinoid system in the human body is one of the most exciting new discoveries of the century, yet you can hardly find an American who knows that cannabis, in all its forms, feeds and nourishes this most important system of the body that controls the endocrine gland system. In just the last five years, the primal importance of the endocannabinoid system has shocked medical science and has rewritten what we know about the human body.

What is the big secret of cannabis that has caused so much obfuscation, conflation, confabulation and nonsensical lies that have driven society to worship or revile this plant? What magical properties of this plant have caused 10,000 years of recorded history to spend so much time on figuring out all of the wondrous effects that can be derived from its substances?

These questions cannot be answered easily, but we will try in this article to shine light on the nature and characteristics of this sacred plant and try to unravel the mysteries enshrouding cannabis. But first, the reader must be willing to open their mind to the possibility of discoveries that go beyond modern science’s limited view. The modern materialistic world-view condemns 10,000 years of religion worship and devotion to the magical effects of cannabis on human consciousness, health, and well-being. Cannabis, in its oldest and most commonly used form is simply dried and powdered marijuana buds with a little water – a drink the Hindus call bhang, the sacred soma drink of the gods.

Bhang is available throughout India everywhere and there have been no noted negative effects over the millennia, even though everyone, including children and ascetic monks, drink bhang regularly. Very complicated mixtures of bhang are also used as an entheogen, a religious tool to attain transcendental experiences with higher beings during sacred rituals. Cannabis is the oldest known plant used as a religious drink to attain what the Greeks called divine nectar and ambrosia and the Hindus called amrita, soma, or usana.

Because the study of the effects of cannabis have been curtailed in America because marijuana was illegal, Western science is far behind the rest of the world in understanding the healing effects of cannabis. Even the use of hemp as a commercial product is only just beginning in America. The hemp industry is a threat to tobacco, pharmaceuticals, food, lumber, paper, oil, plastics, clothing, building supplies, medicine, and the general bureaucratic status quo that would be disrupted by a large influx of competition. Cannabis can be used to build every aspect of a house and there is almost nothing that cannot be enhanced by including one of the over 500 useful substances derived from this plant. This is one of the reasons there has been a continuing war against cannabis in America for over a hundred years.

Just a few short years ago in America, before cannabis and hemp were specifically outlawed, there were many “tonics” available over-the-counter that were as common as aspirin. These mixtures experimented with the derivatives of cannabis and created quite effective medicines. These cannabis tonics were a tremendous threat to the burgeoning industry of pharmaceutical drugs.

Big drug companies began making synthetic versions of the insolated derivatives from cannabis and patented their “new” proprietary drugs. Cannabis, as a “cure all” became the target of corporate machinations that aimed to brain-wash every American into believing that anything derived from cannabis was an evil poison that must be outlawed. Indeed, the drug companies prevailed in the battle until hemp and marijuana became legal in a number of states. Big-Pharma is still fighting the battle by creating synthetic forms of CBDs and THCs that are now approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Big-Pharma is also trying to buy-out the larger sources of cannabis to control the market.

As research on cannabis continues, the astounding successes are shocking the medical world. A specific type of hash oil, derived from cannabis, has had tremendous success stopping cancer and many other illnesses. The treatment with this THC extract is so effective that the practitioners in Canada who use the Rick Simpson THC extract are booked solid with clients who come with terminal illnesses and leave a few months later with no trace of the disease.

This type of cannabis treatment is not performed in America, but in some states, you can buy Rick Simpson oil through a medical marijuana clinic. This treatment is quite dramatic and should only be utilized under the care of a physician. Other people self-medicate with THC extracts by taking small amounts of the substance before sleep so that the “high” from the THC does not affect their work day. This treatment is just one of many that have been developed in Canada and other countries but are not allowed in America.

Even though smoking cannabis has also been used in religion rituals and rites for millennia, both as hash and burning the marijuana bud, there is no specific need to burn the leaf and bud in today’s medical marijuana milieu. There are many forms of TCHs and CBDs that do not require smoking. You can get practically anything imaginable made from CBDs and THCs including: cool aid, chocolate bars, gummy bears, liquid drops, pills, vapes, caps, edible hash, edible Rick Simpson oil, and many other forms of delivery. In terms of hemp, practically any food substance or cosmetic can have hemp added to the mixture. Hemp products and hemp CBDs are so common now that you find them in convenience stores, Walmart, K-Mart, most every pharmacy, and especially vitamin shops.

This flood of hemp and cannabis into the American markets demonstrates that from ancient times to modern times, cannabis has never been found to harm anyone and, in fact, has been healing people and raising consciousness since the beginning of recorded history. Cannabis has always been found to be a divine friend of humanity that seems to have been sent from heaven to ease suffering and ignorance.

Many of you asked about Rick Simpson Oil. Below are two videos that you may find informative.

The History of Cannabis

Cannabis sativa appears in prehistory as both a sacrament and recreational herb throughout central Asia and the Ancient Near East. Hemp was the first plant to be cultivated and its history is only slightly understood. Archaeological evidence suggests that Aryan peoples of central Asia (who later migrated into India, Persia, the Levant, and Greece) introduced cannabis to other cultures of the steppe such as the Scythians, Thracians, and Dacians. The Dacians had a class of shamans who burned cannabis sativa on a brazier as incense in order to access trance states.

The Five Sacred Plants of India are considered the “Tree of Life” and consist of the following: Asvattha [sacred fig, bodhi tree of enlightenment], Darbha [sacred grass], King of Plants is Soma [juice of a plant], Cannabis, and Rice are the healing balms. These are the five sacred plants or herbs mentioned in the Indian Vedas. Soma is also called amrita or the heavenly dew of the gods.

Cannabis sativa appears in Mahayana Buddhist scripture and artwork depicting the Buddha with serrated leaves in his begging bowl [attributed to the plant soma] which appear very similar to cannabis sativa leaves. One Buddhist legend states that in his quest for enlightenment, the Buddha subsisted on one hemp seed daily.

Though India’s use of cannabis and hemp are well documented, China seems to have focused more on hemp rather than the strains of cannabis. In ancient China, hemp is included in the list of the five sacred grains along with rice, soy bean, millet, and barley. Hemp fiber was also used to make rope, clothes, and many other items. Hemp was as important as the principal foods the Chinese needed for life.

In India, there is a cannabis drink that is very popular that is used by everyone, including monks, called bhang. Even the gods drink bhang and it is said that it is Shiva’s favorite drink. Bhang is made by exposing cannabis sativa flowering tops and foliage alternately to sunlight and dew in order to make them wilt before being sun-dried a final time. Bhang is sometimes mixed with foods such as ghee (clarified butter), milk, flour, honey, onions, or curry spices such turmeric and coriander, then consumed orally as a medicine or for recreational purposes. Some recreational oral preparations also mix cannabis sativa or cannabis indica with opium poppy seeds, strychnine tree seeds, and datura metel or other species of datura.

Cannabis was used by many cultures that you might find surprising. Etymological analysis of the Old Testament indicates that Cannabis sativa may have been a sacramental herb in ancient Israel and in Levantine states (Jordan, Syria, etc.), and that the word cannabis may even come from the Hebrew word for this herb, kaneh-bos, meaning fragrant reed. In Biblical times, cannabis sativa flowering tops were infused into olive oil and applied topically to the skin where their psychoactive compounds would be absorbed.

The oldest pseudo-mythological references to cannabis come from an obscure culture called Bon. The ancient culture of Bon is little known but is the original shamanistic Himalayan religion centered on the teachings of Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche. Shenrab had an extraordinary rapport with plants, animals, and nature spirits and thus developed the original Buddhist medicinal texts, bred horses, and widely used cannabis and hemp as key elements in religious rituals and for cultural needs.

According to Bon history, Tibetan medicinal texts originated in the Himalayan region, some dating back to the time of Tonpa Shenrab (18,000 years ago). The Tibetan medicine text, Bumzhi, has four chapters about Tibetan medicine and plants, particularly roots, leaves, tree branches, tree fruits, and so forth.

Traditionally, plants are pounded, dried and made into powders and round pills containing a number of different plants. Making the medicine itself is a very important ritual, and the plants are blessed repeatedly as they are prepared. Rituals such as the Medicine Buddha are still performed in conjunction with the alchemical processes used to activate substances. The Medicine Buddha is the compassionate manifestation of Tonpa Shenrab, the great Enlightened One of Bon who brought to humanity the wisdom of the natural world.

Cannabis has lived alongside humans for over 10,000 years, cultivated for food, fiber, and fodder, as well as for religious and medicinal purposes. It was eventually spread by humans to nearly every region of the planet. Cannabis is one of the oldest known agricultural plants, and its multitude of uses ensured that migrants and traders took these seeds with them wherever they traveled. Prehistoric humans, who did not practice agriculture but most likely harvested wild cannabis seeds for food, spread the plant throughout the Eurasian landmass over 10,000 years ago. Later civilizations spread cannabis to the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, Europe and eventually the New World. Without human intervention, cannabis would have been confined to Central Asia, as its innate dispersal mechanisms are extremely limited.

It is important to distinguish between the two familiar subspecies of the cannabis plant –cannabis sativa, known as marijuana, has psychoactive properties. The other plant is cannabis sativa L. This subspecies is known as hemp; it is a non-psychoactive form of cannabis.

A second psychoactive species of the plant, cannabis indica, was identified by the French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, and a third, uncommon one, cannabis ruderalis, was named in 1924 by Russian botanist D.E. Janischevisky.

Cannabis plants are believed to have evolved on the steppes of Central Asia, specifically in the regions that are now Mongolia and southern Siberia. The recorded history of cannabis use goes back as far as 12,000 years with the Bonpo shamans, which places the plant among humanity’s oldest cultivated crops. Burned cannabis seeds have also been found in kurgan burial mounds in Siberia dating back to 3,000 B.C., and some of the tombs of noble people buried in Xinjiang region of China and Siberia around 2500 B.C. have included large quantities of mummified psychoactive marijuana.

Cannabis came to the Middle East between 2000 B.C. and 1400 B.C., and it was used there by the Scythians, a nomadic Indo-European group. The Scythians carried the drug into southeast Russia and Ukraine. Germanic tribes brought the drug into Germany, and cannabis went from there to Britain during the 5th century with the Anglo-Saxon invasions. Over the next centuries, cannabis migrated to various regions of the world, traveling through Africa, reaching South America in the 19th century and being carried north afterwards, eventually reaching North America.

Both early Greek history and modern archeology show that Central Asian peoples were utilizing cannabis over 2,500 years ago. The Greek Histories of Herodotus (440 BC) record the early Scythians using cannabis steam baths. What Herodotus called the “hemp-seed” was the whole flowering tops of the plant, where the psychoactive resin is produced along with the fruit and seeds. Herodotus also noted that the Thracians, a people who had intimate contact with the Scythians, introduced the plant to the Dacians where it became popular among a shamanic cult named the Kapnobatai, or “Those Who Walk in the Clouds.”

Burial tombs of the Phrygians and Scythians frequently contained cannabis sativa seeds. Tarim mummies excavated near Turpan in Xinjiang province of Northwestern China were buried with sacks of cannabis next to their heads. One shamanistic tomb that contained a leather basket with well-preserved cannabis leaves, shoots, seeds and a wooden bowl with cannabis traces. A burial mound at Pazyryk in the Altai Mountains of Siberia revealed a bronze vessel filled with the remains of hemp seeds.

Africans have had a long tradition of smoking hemp in gourd pipes. Cannabis was used in Africa as an antiseptic, to treat tetanus, hydrophobia, delirium tremens, infantile convulsions, neuralgia and other nervous disorders, cholera, menorrhagia, rheumatism, hay fever, asthma, skin diseases, and protracted labor during childbirth.

In Africa, there were a number of cults and sects of hemp worship. The Bashilenge, living on the northern borders of the Lundu, between Sankrua and Balua cultivated large plots of land with hemp and cannabis. The Bashilenge called themselves Bena Riamba, “the sons of hemp.” They greeted each other with the expression “moio”, meaning both “hemp” and “life.” They attributed universal magical powers to hemp, which was thought to combat all kinds of evil and they took it when they went to war and when they traveled. The hemp pipe assumed a symbolic meaning for the Bashilenge somewhat analogous to the significance which the peace pipe had for American Indians. No holiday, no trade agreement, no peace treaty was transacted without it.

The ancient Germanic tribes also used cannabis extensively. The word hemp derives from Proto-Germanic “hanapiz”, the same Scythian word that cannabis derives from. In ancient Germanic paganism, cannabis was associated with the Norse love goddess, Freya. The harvesting of the plant was connected with an erotic festival. It was believed that Freya lived as a fertile force in the plant’s feminine flowers and by ingesting them one became influenced by this divine force.

The Assyrians, Egyptians, and Hebrews, among other Semitic cultures of the Middle East, mostly acquired cannabis from Aryan cultures and have burned it as an entheogenic incense as early as 1000 BC. In Exodus 30:23 of the Bible, God directed Moses to make a holy oil composed of “myrrh, sweet cinnamon, kaneh bosm and kassia.” The root kan has two meanings in many Ancient languages -hemp and reed.

Cannabis oil was used throughout the Middle East for centuries. It is mentioned in the original Hebrew Old Testament and in its Aramaic translations as both incense and as intoxicant. Cannabis, as an incense, was used in the temples of Assyria and Babylon because “its aroma was pleasing to the Gods.”

Entheogenic Use of Cannabis and Hemp

Cannabis has been used in religion contexts as an entheogen in Indian since the Vedic period (2000 BC). Cannabis has been used by shamanic and pagan cultures to ponder deeply religious and philosophical subjects related to their tribe or society, to achieve a form of enlightenment. There are several references in Greek mythology to a powerful drug that eliminated anguish and sorrow. Herodotus wrote about early ceremonial practices by the Scythians using entheogens. Itinerant Hindu saints have used cannabis as an entheogen in the Indian subcontinent for centuries. Mexican, Mayan and Aztec cultures used cannabis, along with other entheogens in religious rituals.

The earliest known reports regarding the sacred status of cannabis in the Indian subcontinent come from the Atharva Veda which mentions cannabis as one of the “five sacred plants… which release us from anxiety” and that a guardian angel resides in its leaves. The Vedas also refer to it as a “source of happiness,” “joy-giver” and “liberator,” and in the Raja Valabba, the gods send hemp to the human race so that they might attain delight, lose fear, and have sexual desires. Many households in India own and grow a cannabis plant to be able to offer cannabis to a passing sadhu (ascetic holy men), and during some evening devotional services it is not uncommon for cannabis to be smoked by everyone present.

Cannabis was often consumed at weddings or festivals honoring Shiva, who is said to have brought it down from the Himalayas. It is still offered to Shiva in temples on Shivaratri day, while devotional meetings called bhajans are occasions for devotees to consume the drug liberally. Yogis or sadhus along with other Hindu mystics have been known to smoke a mixture of cannabis sativa and tobacco in order to enhance meditation.

There are three common types of cannabis used in the Indian subcontinent. The first, bhang, a type of cannabis edible, consists of the leaves and plant tops of the cannabis plant. It is usually consumed as an infusion in beverage form and varies in strength according to how much cannabis is used in the preparation. The second, ganja, consisting of the leaves and the plant tops, is smoked. The third, called charas or hashish, consists of the resinous buds and/or extracted resin from the leaves of the plant. Typically, bhang is the most commonly used form of cannabis in religious festivals.

In Tantric Buddhism, cannabis is taken to facilitate meditation and also heighten awareness of all aspects of the ceremony, with a large oral dosage being taken in time with the ceremony so that the climax of the “high” coincides with the ceremony.

Scholars associated Chinese wu (shamans) with the entheogenic use of cannabis in Central Asian shamanism. The oldest texts of Traditional Chinese Medicine listed herbal uses for cannabis and noted some psychodynamic effects. According to these traditions, if one takes it over a long period of time one can communicate with the spirits, and one’s body becomes light.

In ancient China, medicine has its origin in shamans who were practicing magicians. In northeastern Asia, shamanism was widespread from Neolithic to recent times. In the far north, among the nomadic tribes of Mongolia and Siberia, the magical use of plant medicines through shamanism was widespread and common until rather recent times. After the rise of Confucianism, the ingestion of cannabis for psychoactive, ritualistic purification was eventually suppressed in China and Japan.

Cannabis as Soma – the Drink of Enlightenment

Some sources from Vedic and Hindu culture and literature on the mention of cannabis for medicinal and cultural/social/religious usages is broad. Common names used in Vedic literature are (1) Bhanga (2) Indrasana (Indra’s food) (3) Vijaya or Jaya (4) Ganja (5) Usana or sana.

The hemp plant in Sanskrit is referred to as bhang and Indrasana. Indrasana, ‘Indra’s hemp’ is described in the Atharvaveda as a protector, and it is supplicated to protect all animals and properties. The gods are said to have three times created this herb and Indra has given it a thousand eyes and conferred on it the property of driving away all disease and killing all monsters; it is praised as the best of remedies and is worn as a precious talisman.

From the Satapatha Bramana:

“Now Soma is a god, for Soma was in the heaven; Soma forsooth, was Vritra; the mountain and stones are his body: thereon grows that plant called Usana they bring hither and press puts sap into it: thus it becomes Soma for him.”

“Soma [Amrita] was originally produced, like nectar, from the ocean by churning Mount Mandara, and inasmuch as it gives victory in the three worlds, it, the delight of the king of the gods, is called vijaya, the victorious.”

“To those who regularly use soma, it begets joy and destroys every anxiety.”

“Cannabis is a divine gift to mankind.”

“Once upon a time, cannabis was born from the churning of mount Mandara in the ocean of milk. It is a favorite of the god Siva, and it is called ‘Conquest’ because it gives victory over the three worlds. It was received by men here on earth for the good of humankind. It is an aphrodisiac, it destroys all worries, and it is exciting.”

The Indian philosopher Vangasena, who flourished in the period 1050–1100, had this to say:

cannabis acts quickly by first spreading throughout the body, and only later being metabolized

cannabis is an intoxicant

it is a remedy for cough, wheezing, loss of appetite, and wasting, and in another tonic to be taken with honey for various problems including diarrhea, anemia, and weight loss

the gods and demons churned the primal ocean, and certain substances, including cannabis, coagulated out of the mix

cannabis is said to have different colors in the different ages of the world: from white in the original golden age, it becomes red, yellow, and in today’s degenerate age it is green

the female plants have the particularly narcotic properties and cause fainting when used in excess

the female plant has a synergistic action that enhances the effect of other medicines when added to them

the plant possesses the following qualities: acridity, astringency, heat, pungency, removing wind and phlegm, speech-giving, strength-giving, inspiring of mental power, the property of a most excellent excitant

cannabis is antiphlegmatic, pungent, astringent, digestive, easy of digestion, acid, bile-affecting, increases infatuation, intoxication, the power of the voice, and the digestive faculty

.

The Rigveda is one of the oldest texts in the world and the 114th hymn is dedicated to soma or the drink of the gods. The writers of the Rigveda say:

soma-rasa (the juice of soma) was made from crushing flowers or the stalk of the soma plant, which grew in the mountains

soma was the haoma (cannabis) plant that grew in Persia

the drink made from cannabis, which was called soma-rasa in those ancient texts, was the same as today’s bhang

O Soma-Rudra, provide cannabis for our bodies for all needful medicines to heal and cure us

Soma has been claimed for millennia to be the best healing plant in the natural kingdom. The quotations above demonstrate that cannabis is soma and that cannabis is the king of healing plants. There is no question that 10,000 years of continuous use of cannabis as a medicine is proof of its efficacy and a testament to its safe use. Thousands of years of teachings from the Asians, Indians, Chinese, and ancient shamans confirm the “new discoveries” of science that tell us that every part of cannabis, in every form, is useful for human health and industry. The idea that America has yet to come to terms with the “number one” most useful plant in history is a sad testament to the U. S. corporate war that has been systematical waged against the plant that is considered the “gift of the gods.”

U. S. History with Cannabis and Hemp

It is often useful to create a time-line of events that highlight the major steps in the development of an idea over the course of history. The history of cannabis is hard to understand without the perspective we have described in the narrative and history of cannabis presented above. Much of the history of cannabis in America is inexplicable without knowing what was going on behind the scenes. The machinations of corporate warfare against hemp and marijuana are spelled out in the time-line below.

Once an overview is established, the mystery of why cannabis has been demonized in America becomes glaringly obvious, and the workings of the those who fight against cannabis become revealed as greedy corporatists who are not concerned about the well-being of American citizens.

1606-1632 French and British cultivate Cannabis for hemp at their colonies in Port Royal (1606), Virginia (1611), and Plymouth (1632).1616 Jamestown settlers began growing the hemp plant for its unusually strong fiber and used it to make rope, sails, and clothing.

1840 In America, medicinal preparations with a cannabis base are available.

1850 Cannabis is added to The U.S. Pharmacopoeia.

1850-1915 Marijuana was widely used throughout United States as a medicinal drug and could easily be purchased in pharmacies and general stores.

1906 In the U.S. the Pure Food and Drug Act is passed, regulating the labeling of products containing Alcohol, Opiates, Cocaine, and Cannabis, among others.

1914 The Harrison Act in the U.S. defined use of Marijuana (among other drugs) as a crime.

1916 Development of a new hemp pulp paper process.

1915-1927 In the U.S. cannabis begins to be prohibited for nonmedical use. Prohibition first begins in California (1915), followed by Texas (1919), Louisiana (1924), and New York (1927).

1919 The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol and positioned marijuana as an attractive alternative leading to an increase in use of the substance.

1928 Recreational use of cannabis is banned in Britain.

1933 The U.S. congress repealed the 21st Amendment, ending alcohol prohibition; 4 years later the prohibition of marijuana will be in full effect.

1936 The American propaganda film Reefer Madness was made to scare American youth away from using cannabis.

1937 U.S. Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act which criminalized the drug. In response Dr. William C. Woodward, testifying on behalf of the AMA, told Congress that, “The American Medical Association knows of no evidence that marijuana is a dangerous drug” and warned that a prohibition “loses sight of the fact that future investigation may show that there are substantial medical uses for Cannabis.” His comments were ignored by Congress.

1941 Cannabis is removed from the U.S. Pharmacopoeia and its medicinal use is no longer recognized in America.

1951 The Boggs Act and the Narcotics Control Act in the U.S. increases all drug penalties and laid down mandatory sentences.

1970 The US National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) forms. That same year the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act repealed mandatory penalties for drug offenses and marijuana was categorized separately from other narcotics.

1971 First evidence suggesting marijuana may help glaucoma patients.

1972 The Nixon-appointed Shafer Commission urged use of cannabis be re-legalized, but their recommendation was ignored. U.S. Medical research picks up pace. Proposition 19 in California to legalize marijuana use is rejected by a voter margin of 66 – 33%.

1975 Nabilone, a cannabinoid-based medication appears.

1976 The U.S. federal government created the Investigational New Drug (IND) Compassionate Use research program to allow patients to receive up to nine pounds of cannabis from the government each year. Today, five surviving patients still receive medical cannabis from the federal government, paid for by federal tax dollars. At the same time the U.S. FDA continues to list marijuana as Schedule I meaning: “A high potential for abuse with no accepted medical value.”

1977 Carl Sagan proposes that marijuana may have been the world’s first agricultural crop, leading to the development of civilization itself: “It would be wryly interesting if in human history the cultivation of marijuana led generally to the invention of agriculture, and thereby to civilization.” Carl Sagan, The Dragons of Eden, Speculations on the Origin of Human Intelligence p 191 footnote.

1977-1981 U.S. President Carter, including his assistant for drug policy, Dr. Peter Bourne, pushed for decriminalization of marijuana, with the president himself asking Congress to abolish federal criminal penalties for those caught with less than one ounce of marijuana.

1986 President Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, reinstating mandatory minimums and raising federal penalties for possession and distribution and officially begins the U.S. international “war on drugs.”

1988 U.S. DEA administrative law Judge Francis Young finds, after thorough hearings, that marijuana has a clearly established medical use and should be reclassified as a prescriptive drug. His recommendation is ignored.

1992 In reaction to a surge of requests from AIDS patients for medical marijuana, the U.S. government closes the Compassionate Use program.

1996 California, the first U.S. state to ban marijuana use became the first U.S. State to then re-legalize medical marijuana use for people suffering from AIDS, cancer, and other serious illnesses. A similar bill was passed in Arizona the same year. This was followed by the passage of similar initiatives in Alaska, Colorado, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Washington D.C., Hawaii, Maryland, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

1997 The American Office of National Drug Control Policy commissioned the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to conduct a comprehensive study of the medical efficacy of cannabis therapeutics. The IOM concluded that cannabis is a safe and effective medicine, patients should have access, and the government should expand avenues for research and drug development. The federal government completely ignored its findings and refused to act on its recommendations.

1997-2000 In direct contradiction to the IOM recommendations, President Clinton, continuing the Regan and Bush “war on drugs” era, began a campaign to arrest and prosecute medical cannabis patients and their providers in California and elsewhere.

1999 Hawaii and North Dakota unsuccessfully attempt to legalize hemp farming. The U.S. DEA reclassifies Dronabinol as a schedule III drug, making the medication easier to prescribe while marijuana itself continues to be listed Schedule I as having “no accepted medical use.”

2001-2009 Under President G.W. Bush the U.S. federal government intensified its “war on drugs” targeting both patients and doctors across the state of California.

2009 President Obama made steps toward ending the very unsuccessful 20-year “war on drugs” initiated during the Regan administration by stating that individual drug use is really a public health issue and should be treated as such. Under his guidance, the U.S. Justice Department announced that federal prosecutors will no longer pursue medical marijuana users and distributors who comply with state laws.

Oct 2010 Just weeks before the November 02 California election on Proposition 19 Attorney General Eric Holder said federal authorities would continue to enforce U.S. laws that declare the drug is illegal, even if voters approve the initiative, stating “we will vigorously enforce the (Controlled Substances Act) against those individuals and organizations that possess, manufacture or distribute marijuana for recreational use.”

Nov 2010 California Proposition 19, also known as the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, was narrowly defeated by 53.6% of the vote. This would have legalized various marijuana-related activities in California, allowing local governments to regulate these activities, permitting local governments to impose and collect marijuana-related fees and taxes, and authorizing various criminal and civil penalties.

Nov 2012 The States of Colorado and Washington legalize marijuana/cannabis for recreational use; promises are made to the people that these new initiatives will have no impact on medical marijuana in those states. The U. S. District of Columbia decriminalizes personal use and possession of marijuana/cannabis.

July 07, 2014 Cannabis City becomes Seattle’s very first legal marijuana shop for over-the-counter purchase and recreational use. This generated world-wide media attention and a serious discussion over the legalization of marijuana and a possible end to the American “war on drugs.”

Nov 2014 The States of Alaska and Oregon legalize marijuana/cannabis for recreational use; the States of California, Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii and Massachusetts all begin to draft legalization legislation.

July 24, 2015 With the passage of Senate Bill 5052 Washington State medical marijuana comes fully under the control of the newly re-named Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB).

Cannabis Use in America

As we can see by the presentation above and the time-line of cannabis in America, there is no logical reason cannabis, in all its forms, shouldn’t be completely legal in all 50 U. S. States. If fact, according to 10,000 years of medical use, it is about time to lift all American restrictions on the use of cannabis. Medical research should quickly move forward to find the scientific evidence to demonstrate that the ancients were correct – cannabis is a “gift from heaven.”

It is time for corporate vested interests to be removed from all aspects of hemp development and medical marijuana research. There is no good reason not to move forward as rapidly as possible and try to make up for the lost time of political maneuvering and corporate machinations to defame and delegitimize the most useful and medicinally helpful plant ever discovered. What we already know proves the efficacy of CBDs and THCs as fantastic healing tools that effect almost every illness known to humanity. There is no sound reasoning that can reject the complete embrace of cannabis by the scientific and medical communities for the advancement of humanity.

The future of the human race has been revolutionized by the scientific discovery of the human endocannabinoid system that is the master controller of even the endocrine ductless gland system. Until the endocannabinoid control system was discovered, the endocrine system was thought to be the “master” control system for all processes in the human body. Now, with the discovery of the principle system actually being the endocannabinoid, which is nourished and fed by CBDs and THCs, it would be “criminal” to not focus on these discoveries to find all of the wondrous help that cannabis can continue to give humanity.

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This is an excellent Post revealing the truth.. So many now waking up to what has been hidden, and why!!…
Brilliant read. Thank you.. My daughter manages a health food store and the demand for CBD oil has jumped through the roof because it works and heals.

Interesting here in the UK Drs were given permission to prescribe it recently especially effective to patients with Epilepsy, yet only TWO Drs were found to have prescribed it.. Even though the evidence shows it works..
Big pharma still controls even the Dr’s surgeries.. 😦
But people are waking up, and Change is on the horizon.. When enough of us open our awareness to the reality of this world.. ❤
Many thanks for the effort you have put into this post..